Never had to go to a memorial until my best friend from highschool passed in afgainistan... hardest thingi ever had to do, bury your close friend and fellow marine... Thank you to all that have given their lives for our country. every branch every place in this world you are appriciated. i love you all. THANK YOU

As I walked toward the double-glass doors leading to the parking lot, I
encountered a small group of people standing just inside the door -- two
Airmen, a civilian employee and one captain. As I reached for the door,
the captain said, "You don't want to go out there right now."

I looked out and saw traffic stopped and several people standing in the
Hot July sun, gazing westward, some saluting, some standing at attention
and
some with their hands laid on their chests.

No, I don't really want to go out there right now. I looked at my watch
-- 4:30 p.m.

I stood with the group that now numbered five. No one spoke. One Airman
made a call on her cell phone, the other shifted his gaze back and forth
between his shoes and the wall. The captain sifted through a folder of
papers.
The civilian and I watched through the glass doors as a technical
sergeant
stood at attention, saluting ... a sweat ring growing on his back. It
seemed
to go on forever.

The base loudspeakers squeaked out the last recorded notes of the
National Anthem. The cars rolled forward, the technical sergeant lowered
his
salute. The civilian pushed our door open and walked out. The rest of
us
followed. When the heat hit me, I felt fortunate that my timing had
kept me
inside during the long ceremony.

I thought about that day for weeks. Images of the episode flashed
through my mind
as if I'd witnessed a crime -- the plate-sized sweat ring, the glow of
the cell phone
on the Airman's cheek, the civilian's hand resting on the door handle,
the glare of the
sun, the heat.

I recently read an article about the war on terror and learned that we
average 2.35 Americans dead and 10 wounded every day in the area of
responsibility. That day leapt back into my thoughts. A few hours of
research helped me identify the date -- July 14, 2005.

On July 14, 2005, 23-year-old Cpl. Chris Winchester and 22-year-old Cpl.
Cliff Mounce were killed when their vehicle was targeted by an
improvised
explosive device in Baghdad.

On that day, 21-year-old Pfc. Tim Hines Jr. died when an IED hit his
Humvee.

On that day, 34-year-old Staff Sgt. Tricia Jameson was killed by a
secondary IED while she was treating a victim of the primary IED. She,
Chris
Winchester and Cliff Mounce all died in Trebil. We can assume she was
treating Chris, Cliff or another in their group. She volunteered to go
to Iraq and had been in-country three weeks.

On that day, four American Soldiers died in Iraq and numerous others
were wounded.

On that day, four families were plunged into mourning.

On that day, I flew one sortie, sifted through e-mail, updated my base
vehicle sticker and hid from the heat behind a glass door.

Why does it matter that I avoided participating in retreat? Some may
think it's silly symbolism, that it's not real. An aircraft is real. A
computer, a vehicle sticker -- they're real.

I believe that anything that you allow to move you, or that inspires
those around you to search their hearts, is as real as the bomb that
tore
Chris Winchester's body apart last summer. Anything that forces an
entire base
to stop and listen to their thoughts for a while is real. Anything that
causes you to pause and acknowledge that American Soldiers may be under
fire as
you listen to the national anthem is real.

As we five stood inside that doorway, the Soldiers killed and wounded
that day may have been bleeding, screaming and dying in the sand.

If my timing is ever again as perfect as it was that day, I'll be
prepared. I'll be ready with, "Yes, I do want to go out there right
now."
You may not come with me, but I'll bet you think about it for weeks.

If I had stepped outside to pay respect to the flag and to the four
soldiers who died that day, how long would it have taken?

One minute and 28 seconds.

__________________
There exists a special place in heaven for those who die because they are not afraid to live.

The idea of thanking someone just going to work is ridiculous. I cant speak for all nations but I can confidently state the fact that the US military has never nor probly ever will protect any of its citizens so called freedoms....if this post gets taken down for simply differing in opinion then it will be a great example of what im referring too.

The idea of thanking someone just going to work is ridiculous. I cant speak for all nations but I can confidently state the fact that the US military has never nor probly ever will protect any of its citizens so called freedoms....if this post gets taken down for simply differing in opinion then it will be a great example of what im referring too.

actually I was just correcting the person who started the thread. And the last part was directed toward the madness on the part of the mods who take down my posts because there not mainstream but they allow people in this section to praise killing

Yea WW2 was a big cover up, the spread of communism upon a helpless nation in Korea was make believe ... Veitnam same, but guess we didn't go do that ... Seeing a UN country and ally invaded ... Nah we justed watched for ****s and gigs, and least I or get the 3500+ that were killed was a government plot to control you.

Your a ****ing ignorant bigot that lives with your head shoved far up your *** you'll never see the truth or real world.

It makes me sick to know there are unappreciative people like you out there but we didn't sign on the dotted line to protect patriots only, it's the entire country, good and bad. And you say we don't protect anything? If the entire military stopped all functions, we'd have Korea, Russia, and China so far up our ***** within days. No one ****s with us because we have the best military, providing almost 300 years of pure dominance.

actually I was just correcting the person who started the thread. And the last part was directed toward the madness on the part of the mods who take down my posts because there not mainstream but they allow people in this section to praise killing

Condone it, praise it, whatever you like, but that doesn't change the fact that people need to be terminated. We're trained in the art of war, and for most of us, we're good at what we do. I sleep fine at night knowing what I've done and what my friends and brothers have done, hell I sleep good cause we've helped make the world a better place, eliminating the people that would like to do you harm. The sheep only like the sheep dog when he's needed. It's all good though, I'll always be here, waiting.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Orvis09

It makes me sick to know there are unappreciative people like you out there but we didn't sign on the dotted line to protect patriots only, it's the entire country, good and bad. And you say we don't protect anything? If the entire military stopped all functions, we'd have Korea, Russia, and China so far up our ***** within days. No one ****s with us because we have the best military, providing almost 300 years of pure dominance.

I didn't sign up to protect America, I signed up to be part of a brotherhood that would allow me to play a part in making sure that everyone that leaves the wire has a fighting chance because there is one more person in the fight.

mad respect to anyone serving. i always feel like such a ****ing peasant when im around my brother and his army buddies. the amount of respect and gratitude i have for you guys can never be put into words. i cant wait till im among you.

The idea of thanking someone just going to work is ridiculous. I cant speak for all nations but I can confidently state the fact that the US military has never nor probly ever will protect any of its citizens so called freedoms....if this post gets taken down for simply differing in opinion then it will be a great example of what im referring too.

Yeah you know all about it man... the day to day job is so lame.. I got to the office and train to shoot my weapon because there is always a chance that at my job someone might come and try to shoot me, I train every day in my specific individual task because any way you cut it if i make a critical mistake someone dies or a group of people die...

I imagine your job has its similar trials and tribulations. Every day you train on how to hide in the walk in cooler in case the manager comes looking for someone to clean the floor. Each day you sham out on the frier because lets be frank if you make a critical mistake some fries get burnt some customers get pissed but all in all you still walk away with your $7.15 an hour which is enough to afford another sack of weed, a couple tall boys of busch, and the ability to rent another xbox game so you can hide from your parents for the weekend...... I hear the restaurant even has a REALLY good Post Traumatic Grill Disorder program as well.....

Sidenote: to all the actually servicemen here.. DONT EVER CALCULATE HOW MUCH YOU MAKE AN HOUR... its dismal and it really makes everything suck slightly more...